Sometimes "Just Write" Works

 

I had an unexpected writing day yesterday, for which I was sorely unprepared. Not that I'm ever prepared, but I suppose I do psych myself up when I know a writing session is coming.

When last we left the story, my MC's stalker had rammed their car into a section of the motel in the middle of the night, devastating it, and then hightailed it out of there. So naturally I resumed by describing the aftermath. Thus, I had to conjure up all the possible ways to depict destruction without boring the reader with minutia. Then, as non-planners tend to do, that led to a whole convoy of people showing up to help with cleanup. Frankly, it got a little boring, so I'll need to tighten that up. Nothing much was happening except showcasing various characters' personalities. The problem with plotting and writing at the same time is that one word leads to another with zero forethought. It also defies my rule of making every scene count.

I did manage, however, to bring in a surprise helper who was not met enthusiastically by those in attendance, but who eventually won people over. The scene made him three dimensional, whereas before his character was simply a plot device.

Overall, my session consisted of one very long (too long) scene. That's not good. However, it did lead me to what I think might be the big reveal. And the line that did it was about all the food in the refrigerator being spoiled (from the electricity being shut off) and thus my MC and her fiance couldn't bring their own lunches to work.

That sound really boring, right? Except that will lead to Step Two, which will lead to Step Three, then Step Four, and finally the showdown. Who says I don't plan? 

If I hadn't kept on with that long, boring scene, it wouldn't have led to an innocuous comment regarding spoiled food. A throwaway line. 

I do want to be done with the story, admittedly. It's taken so long to write, and even when I finish, I'll still need to merge the second version with the first and ensure that those two iterations flow together. Right now I can't even believe how lame my first version was, but as I noted before, the initial one fourth of it is just fine. But now there will be no roof collapse or the MC wandering helpless down the road. (Good lord, what was I thinking?)

I do wish I'd stop getting marketing emails goading me to promo. Those just make me anxious, knowing how far I am from even considering such a thing. It feels like nagging.

The axiom, "just write" can be good and it can be delusional. If I allow myself to just write like I did yesterday, I end up with a block of text I'll need to delete or at least edit. Sometimes, though, it can lead to an epiphany.